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Review
. 2016 Jan 5;17(1):66.
doi: 10.3390/ijms17010066.

The Metals in the Biological Periodic System of the Elements: Concepts and Conjectures

Wolfgang Maret  1
Affiliations
Review

The Metals in the Biological Periodic System of the Elements: Concepts and Conjectures

Wolfgang Maret. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

A significant number of chemical elements are either essential for life with known functions, or present in organisms with poorly defined functional outcomes. We do not know all the essential elements with certainty and we know even less about the functions of apparently non-essential elements. In this article, I discuss a basis for a biological periodic system of the elements and that biochemistry should include the elements that are traditionally part of inorganic chemistry and not only those that are in the purview of organic chemistry. A biological periodic system of the elements needs to specify what "essential" means and to which biological species it refers. It represents a snapshot of our present knowledge and is expected to undergo further modifications in the future. An integrated approach of biometal sciences called metallomics is required to understand the interactions of metal ions, the biological functions that their chemical structures acquire in the biological system, and how their usage is fine-tuned in biological species and in populations of species with genetic variations (the variome).

Keywords: essential metals; metallomics; non-essential metals; periodic system of the elements.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Both chemistry and biology come to bear on investigations of the roles of chemical elements in organisms.
Figure 2
Figure 2
A biological periodic system of the elements (PSE) indicating the essential elements. The essential elements for most forms of life are shown in black with the exception of chromium (Cr), which is shown with an upward diagonal pattern (see text), and the essential elements that are more restricted for some forms of life are shown in grey. Not shown are the f-group elements: lanthanides and actinides (asterisk after lanthanum (La) and actinium (Ac). The groups are numbered 1–18.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Abundance of the chemical elements in humans [18].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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